Religion and Latino Partisanship in the United States

Religious influences on Latino ideology and vote choice: are Evangelical Catholics different?

“…While increased frequency of church attendance has correlated to Anglo Americans holding a more conservative ideology (Layman 2001;Layman and Green 2005), scholars have noted a significant and opposite effect upon African-Americans, who increasingly identify with the Democratic Party as their religious attendance increases (Reese and Brown 1995;CalhounBrown 1996;Brown and Brown 2003). The impact of behavior with regard to Latinos are mixed: while Latinos significantly differ with Anglos on several policy issues (Leal 2007), studies with religious variables find a commonality, specifically between Latino and Anglo Protestants (Ellison, Echevarria, and Smith 2005;Kelly and Kelly 2005;Kelly and Morgan 2008). Given that minorities establish racial identity and solidarity in their houses of worship, it is possible that the influence of religious behavior varies by ethnicity (Brown and Brown 2003).…”

“…Such studies, however, have run into difficulty because the variance of Latinos' denominational adherence is generally viewed as limited, i.e., the vast majority of Latinos are associated with Catholicism (Maldonado 1999;Fraga et al 2010). While generally there has been a link between Catholicism and identification with the Democratic Party (Fee 1976;Greeley 1977;Leege and Welch 1989;Layman 1997), especially for Latinos (Kelly and Kelly 2005;Perl, Greely, and Gray 2006;Guth 2012;Pew 2012a), 4 more recent evidence finds Anglo Catholics are becoming more evenly split between the parties on ideology and vote choice (Green 2007;Guth 2012;Pew 2012a). Most studies which include Catholics tend to treat them as a homogenous group, or if studies divide them, they do so upon racial lines, simply differentiating Catholic Latinos from all others.…”

“…Such action, however, reduces critical variance (Desipio 2007), particularly based upon belief structures, and has already been applied to Protestant denominations, whether Evangelical or not. With respect to Latino Protestants, scholars have noted that such variation between Evangelicals and non-Evangelicals has different impacts upon political ideology and action (Kelly and Kelly 2005;Lee and Pachon 2007;Kelly and Morgan 2008). Some scholars argue that religious identity is only politically salient among those who are "Evangelical" (Lee and Pachon 2007), while others argue that any Protestant Latino, whether mainline or Evangelical, is more likely to vote (Jones-Correa and Leal 2001), more likely to identify oneself as Republican, and more likely to vote for the Republican candidate (Espinosa, Elizondo, and Miranda 2003;Kelly and Kelly 2005;Leal et al 2005;Kelly and Morgan 2008;Lopez and Taylor 2012).…”

“…With respect to Latino Protestants, scholars have noted that such variation between Evangelicals and non-Evangelicals has different impacts upon political ideology and action (Kelly and Kelly 2005;Lee and Pachon 2007;Kelly and Morgan 2008). Some scholars argue that religious identity is only politically salient among those who are "Evangelical" (Lee and Pachon 2007), while others argue that any Protestant Latino, whether mainline or Evangelical, is more likely to vote (Jones-Correa and Leal 2001), more likely to identify oneself as Republican, and more likely to vote for the Republican candidate (Espinosa, Elizondo, and Miranda 2003;Kelly and Kelly 2005;Leal et al 2005;Kelly and Morgan 2008;Lopez and Taylor 2012). While these scholars ought to be commended in their effort to find more variation within the religious beliefs of Latinos, they have focused too much on the smaller Protestant side and consequently have assumed a homogeneity of religious beliefs of Catholic Latinos.…”

“…This evolution has culminated in the current understanding that Catholics are categorically a "swing vote" with a near-even split of Catholics' presidential vote choice between the two major parties throughout the 2000s (Green 2007;Guth 2012;Pew 2012a). This picture is complicated, however, when one divides Catholics along ethnic lines, as Catholic Latinos overwhelmingly vote Democratic (Cain, Kiewiet, and Ulaner 1991;Kelly and Kelly 2005;Perl, Greely, and Gray 2006;Guth 2012;Pew 2012a). While Latino support for the Democrat presidential candidate has averaged 68%, it has widely fluctuated over time.…”